


The Joy of Flight

by LittleMissWolfie



Series: Generation of Miracles: Hogwarts AU [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Harry Potter AU, Hogwarts AU, M/M, Quidditch, all events in this fic happen before "what's a patronus", might be kind of repetitive, not as good as what's a patronus, oops i did it again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-16
Updated: 2015-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-21 02:56:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4812323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissWolfie/pseuds/LittleMissWolfie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It seems to Kuroko that many important events in his life happen because of flight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Joy of Flight

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all got your wish. This isn't nearly as good as "What's a Patronus?", in my opinion, but I like it. This whole thing happens before "What's a Patronus?".

Kuroko is three the first time he is on a broom.

 

It is his birthday, and his grandmother gives him a toy broom. It only gets two feet off the ground, but Kuroko feels amazing. He is weightless, free, with the wind running through his powder blue hair. He grins at his grandmother, who smiles back, and Kuroko doesn’t think anything can get better than this.

 

It turns out, things soon get much, much worse.

 

* * *

 

Kuroko is eleven during his first flying lesson.

 

Gryffindor and Hufflepuff are together for this lesson, so Aomine and Kise flank him. It is a comfort for all three of them. With so few Japanese students in a primarily English-speaking country, the three of them quickly bonded with three other students on the train. Whenever they see each other, they gravitate to each other. It’s an undeniable attraction, and Kuroko feels safe for the first time in a long time.

 

He hasn’t been on a broom since he was three. Aomine and Kise are both Muggle born, so they have no idea of what to do, either. Madam Hooch, who Kuroko thinks is much too old to be teaching a physical education class, is patient with them as they acquaint themselves with their brooms. They are old and splintering, so Kuroko carefully maneuvers himself onto the cushion.

 

And then, he’s flying, and it’s just as amazing as he remembered. He is suddenly a toddler again, with his ever-present grandmother and his absent but loving parents. He is back in the back garden, a layer of snow on the ground and bundled to high heaven so he doesn’t catch cold. He can smell the hot chocolate, made with extra vanilla to suit his tastes, from the slightly open window, and he is heedless of the cold, of the burning cold on his nose and fingers, and all that matters is this moment.

 

Then Kise is flailing and falling from the broom, and Aomine is laughing, and Kuroko is pulled from the past and back to the present.

 

* * *

 

Kuroko is twelve when he tries out for the Seeker position on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

 

It was Akashi’s decision, just as many others are. They played Quidditch together at Midorima’s family home when they could that summer, and Akashi decided that they would all try out for their House teams and play against each other in the House Cup.

Kuroko is nervous. He isn’t as fast as the other Seeker hopefuls, many of whom have been trying to years. One is a seventh year, who towers over Kuroko’s tiny frame. His only hope is to showcase his agility and his ability to disappear.

 

Aomine notices his anxiety, and he claps a hand on his back. “Don’t worry, Tetsu,” he says, grinning. “We all believe in you.”

 

This only serves to make Kuroko more nervous. He finally has a group of friends, and they like him the way he likes them, and he can’t mess this up. He can’t be alone again. He can’t go back to the shadows now that he’s had a taste of what it feels like to stand in the light.

 

Resolved, Kuroko steels himself. He will be emotionless. He will focus only on the snitch, and he will get on the team, and he will keep his friends.

 

* * *

 

Kuroko is thirteen when he is abandoned again.

 

He is suddenly too slow, too small, too weak to practice with Aomine. With any of his friends. They’ve all blossomed into prodigies, and he’s remained the same. He isn’t good enough anymore.

 

They don’t mean to leave him. He knows it. They just stop inviting him to practice, because they stop practicing. Aomine becomes lazy, and is sleeping when not in the air. Midorima and Akashi are too wrapped up in their studies, Murasakibara has nothing in common with him, and Kise is constantly swarmed by the fans he made when he modeled for the Prophet over the summer.

 

He quits the Quidditch team at the end of his third year.

 

Kuroko is a shadow once more.

 

* * *

 

Kuroko is fourteen when he meets his savior.

 

As an orphan, Kuroko spends most of his summer at Hogwarts. Before this year, he stayed with Aomine’s family in Muggle Tokyo, but that was no longer an option. He spends most of his time in the library, reading up on defensive spells. He’s always had an affinity towards defense, and he is particularly interested in fending off the Dementors he sees in his dreams.

 

When school starts back up, Kuroko is fairly confident in his ability to cast a patronus charm. Professor Chang, who teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts, helped him practice with a boggart all summer. It is the only thing that keeps him same.

 

As per tradition, Headmistress McGonagall Apparates him to Platform 9 ¾, because all Hogwarts students are required to ride the train. He is almost afraid of having to ride the train alone, because his friends are no longer his friends and he is alone.

 

He manages to find an empty compartment, near where the first-years tend to gather, and wedges himself as close to the window as he can possibly get. He hopes he can fall asleep quickly.

 

Suddenly, the compartment door bangs open, and a group of Japanese students Kuroko has never seen before sit down. He doesn’t think they’ve noticed him, and he is content to leave it like that, until one, who appears to be the leader, sits on him.

 

As soon as their bodies make contact, the newcomer yelps and jumps away like he has been lit on fire.

 

This is how Kuroko meets Kagami Taiga, his best friend.

 

* * *

 

Kuroko is fifteen when he gets his friends back.

 

It is mostly thanks to Kagami, in all honesty. He spent their whole fourth year fighting to get them back to their old selves without Kuroko’s knowledge. It wasn’t until the End of Year Feast, when he five of them lifted him onto the shoulders as Gryffindor won the House Cup that he had any idea what was going on.

 

The compartment is bursting with people, now. The original six plus Kagami’s four make ten, and Kuroko ends up perched on Kagami’s lap. Not that either of them mind.

 

“So, Tetsu,” Aomine says, bumping his shin with his foot, “you gonna try out for the team again?”

 

Kuroko smiles. “I would love to spend the rest of my life in flight."

 

* * *

 

Kuroko is three the first time he is on a broom.

 

He still remembers this vividly. Despite all the horrible things that happen shortly after his third birthday, Kuroko loves this memory.

 

This experience introduces him to the joy of flight. The joy of flight is what gives him his friends. The joy of flight motivates him to do his homework, so that he may play Quidditch. The joy of flight makes him realize he wants to be a professional Quidditch player. The joy of flight helps him remember his parents and his grandmother.

 

Kuroko is three the first time he is on a broom.

 

Kuroko is three the first time he experiences the joy of flight.

 

 


End file.
